psychoanalysis

psy·cho·a·nal·y·sis

(sī′kō-ə-năl′ĭ-sĭs)

n.pl.psy·cho·a·nal·y·ses(-sēz′)

1.

a. The method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts, in order to free psychic energy for mature love and work.

b. The theory of personality developed by Freud that focuses on repression and unconscious forces and includes the concepts of infantile sexuality, resistance, transference, and division of the psyche into the id, ego, and superego.

psychoanalysis - a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders; based on the theories of Sigmund Freud; "his physician recommended psychoanalysis"

psychotherapy - the treatment of mental or emotional problems by psychological means

hypnoanalysis - the use of hypnosis in conjunction with psychoanalysis

anal personality, anal retentive personality - (psychoanalysis) a personality characterized by meticulous neatness and suspicion and reserve; said to be formed in early childhood by fixation during the anal stage of development (usually as a consequence of toilet training)

genital personality - (psychoanalysis) the mature personality which is not dominated by infantile pleasure drives

oral personality - (psychoanalysis) a personality characterized either by generous optimism or aggressive and ambitious selfishness; formed in early childhood by fixation during the oral stage of development

reality principle - (psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the ego; the principle that as a child grows it becomes aware of the real environment and the need to accommodate to it

introject - (psychoanalysis) parental figures (and their values) that you introjected as a child; the voice of conscience is usually a parent's voice internalized

ego ideal - (psychoanalysis) the part of the ego that contains an ideal of personal excellence toward which a person strives

imago - (psychoanalysis) an idealized image of someone (usually a parent) formed in childhood

condensation - (psychoanalysis) an unconscious process whereby two ideas or images combine into a single symbol; especially in dreams

transference - (psychoanalysis) the process whereby emotions are passed on or displaced from one person to another; during psychoanalysis the displacement of feelings toward others (usually the parents) is onto the analyst

cathexis, charge - (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object; "Freud thought of cathexis as a psychic analog of an electrical charge"

acathexis - (psychoanalysis) a lack of cathexis; a condition in which significant objects or memories arouse no emotion in an individual

psychosexual development - (psychoanalysis) the process during which personality and sexual behavior mature through a series of stages: first oral stage and then anal stage and then phallic stage and then latency stage and finally genital stage

castration anxiety - (psychoanalysis) anxiety resulting from real or imagined threats to your sexual functions; originally applied only to men but can in principle apply to women

anal phase, anal stage - (psychoanalysis) the second sexual and social stage of a child's development during which bowel control is learned

genital phase, genital stage - (psychoanalysis) the fifth sexual and social stage in a person's development occurring during adolescence; interest focuses on sexual activity

latency period, latency phase, latency stage - (psychoanalysis) the fourth period (from about age 5 or 6 until puberty) during which sexual interests are supposed to be sublimated into other activities

oral phase, oral stage - (psychoanalysis) the first sexual and social stage of an infant's development; the mouth is the focus of the libido and satisfaction comes from suckling and chewing and biting

phallic phase, phallic stage - (psychoanalysis) the third stage in a child's development when awareness of and manipulation of the genitals is supposed to be a primary source of pleasure

anal retentive, anal - a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated on the anal region; fixation at this stage is said to result in orderliness, meanness, stubbornness, compulsiveness, etc.

oral - a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth; fixation at this stage is said to result in dependence, selfishness, and aggression

Jean promises Mo and Tanya that she'll take her daughter to the doctor's, but instead she sits her down for a chat on Arfur's bench - where all the best psychoanalysing happens on the Square - and they vow to get through this problem together.

McCrum attempts to enliven the story by psychoanalysing Wodehouse, deducing a supposedly traumatic upbringing from the novels, but these are among the book's least satisfactory passages and he is forced to concede that such details 'always will be tantalisingly opaque'.

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